duplicate

[ noun, adjective doo-pli-kit, dyoo-; verb doo-pli-keyt, dyoo- ]

/ noun, adjective ˈdu plɪ kɪt, ˈdyu-; verb ˈdu plɪˌkeɪt, ˈdyu- /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for: duplicate / duplicated / duplicating on Thesaurus.com

noun

a copy exactly like an original.

anything corresponding in all respects to something else.

Cards. a duplicate game.

verb (used with object), du·pli·cat·ed, du·pli·cat·ing.

to make an exact copy of.

to do or perform again; repeat: He duplicated his father's way of standing with his hands in his pockets.

to double; make twofold.

verb (used without object), du·pli·cat·ed, du·pli·cat·ing.

to become duplicate.

adjective

exactly like or corresponding to something else: duplicate copies of a letter.

consisting of or existing in two identical or corresponding parts; double.

Cards. noting a game in which each team plays a series of identical hands, the winner being the team making the best total score.

OTHER WORDS FOR duplicate

1 facsimile, replica, reproduction.

9 twofold.

See synonyms for duplicate on Thesaurus.com

OPPOSITES FOR duplicate

1 original.

See antonyms for duplicate on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

WILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?

Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!

Question 1 of 7

Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.

who

whom

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Idioms about duplicate

in duplicate, in two copies, especially two identical copies: Please type the letter in duplicate.

Origin of duplicate

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin duplicātus (past participle of duplicāre “to make double”), equivalent to duplic- (stem of duplex ) duplex + -ātus -ate¹

synonym study for duplicate

4. See imitate.

OTHER WORDS FROM duplicate

du·pli·ca·tive, adjectivenon·du·pli·cat·ing, adjectivepre·du·pli·cate, verb (used with object), pre·du·pli·cat·ed, pre·du·pli·cat·ing.qua·si-du·pli·cate, adjective

self·-du·pli·cat·ing, adjectiveun·du·pli·cat·ed, adjective

Words nearby duplicate

duplex house, duplex lock, duplex process, duplex pump, duplicable, duplicate, duplicate bridge, duplicating machine, duplication, duplication of the cube, duplicative

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use duplicate in a sentence

That duplicate pipe San Diego wants to build, which would sit parallel to the one Met uses now, wouldn’t produce any savings for ratepayers until at least 2063 – costing two generations of ratepayers at least $5 billion to build.
The Water Authority Is Resurrecting Its Pipe Dream – Again|MacKenzie Elmer|September 1, 2020|Voice of San Diego
Sometimes the duplicate copies persist for many millions of years before being lost, for reasons that Gramzow and Thießen are still investigating.
By Losing Genes, Life Often Evolved More Complexity|Viviane Callier|September 1, 2020|Quanta Magazine
Reporters had to run the data through multiple computer programs to remove any duplicate records and standardize information that was frequently misspelled.
How We Found Out How Many Debt Collection Lawsuits Oportun Inc. Filed During the Pandemic|by Ren Larson and Kiah Collier|August 31, 2020|ProPublica
In response, registrars need to search for duplicate entries that are usually mistakes – someone named Mike is registered in one county, moves and re-registers in another county as Michael, for example.
GOP Chair Who Called Mail Voting ‘Fraught With Danger’ Voted by Mail 22 Straight Times|Andrew Keatts|August 10, 2020|Voice of San Diego

Shepard said, for example, “We know that we only want one title per page, that the title should be relatively short – 50 to 60 characters – the title should be unique, meaning it shouldn’t be a duplicate of other titles on your site.”
Advanced tactics for SEO title tag optimization|The Content Studio @ Search Engine Land|July 30, 2020|Search Engine Land
He lost the bet on the twenty-eighth question, when a duplicate birthday turned up.
Portrait of the Consummate Con Man|John Lardner|May 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Wayne has infused the whole operation with a spirit of joy and dedication that is stealth seasoning no one can duplicate.
The Texas Church of Beef|Jane & Michael Stern|April 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And it does seem true that Bitcoins are very hard to forge or duplicate.
Inside Japan’s Bitcoin Heist|Jake Adelstein|February 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Son of God is trying to duplicate the grassroots strategy that paid off for Gibson.
Will ‘Son of God’ Be the Next Grassroots Christian Blockbuster?|Myra Adams|February 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Illegible handwriting and typos lead to errors and duplicate entries.
A Bipartisan Path to Fixing America’s Broken Elections|Michael Waldman|January 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
With this letter is another by the same writer, dated July 30, 1622—a postscript to a duplicate of the preceding letter.
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume XX, 1621-1624|Various
Lessard uttered the command evenly, without a jarring note, his tone almost a duplicate of MacRae's.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
The original documents (in duplicate) are drawn up in Spanish and in English respectively.
The Philippine Islands|John Foreman
I shall need more energy than your body has available in order to duplicate myself.
Insidekick|Jesse Franklin Bone
The results with the gases duplicate in every particular the observations made on the solutions (see below, p. 24).
The Elements of Qualitative Chemical Analysis, vol. 1, parts 1 and 2.|Julius Stieglitz

British Dictionary definitions for duplicate

duplicate

adjective (ˈdjuːplɪkɪt)

copied exactly from an original

identical

existing as a pair or in pairs; twofold

noun (ˈdjuːplɪkɪt)

an exact copy; double

something additional or supplementary of the same kind

two exact copies (esp in the phrase in duplicate)

verb (ˈdjuːplɪˌkeɪt)

(tr) to make a replica of

(tr) to do or make again

(tr) to make in a pair; make double

(intr) biology to reproduce by dividing into two identical partsthe chromosomes duplicated in mitosis

Derived forms of duplicate

duplicable (ˈdjuːplɪkəbəl), adjectiveduplicability, nounduplicately, adverbduplicative, adjective

Word Origin for duplicate

C15: from Latin duplicāre to double, from duo two + plicāre to fold

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

duplicate

OTHER WORDS FOR duplicate

OPPOSITES FOR duplicate

Idioms about duplicate

Origin of duplicate

synonym study for duplicate

OTHER WORDS FROM duplicate

Words nearby duplicate

Words related to duplicate

How to use duplicate in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for duplicate

Derived forms of duplicate

Word Origin for duplicate